Microsoft offers security bulletins in RSS Finally!

RSS: Really Simple Syndication

Introduction

TechNet is now providing an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feed for its Security Bulletins, with more RSS content for IT pros on the way in the months ahead. RSS feeds deliver new content to you on the topics you are interested in. All you need to take advantage of these feeds is a RSS client, such as one of the titles listed below.

What Is RSS?

RSS provides a convenient way to syndicate information from a variety of sources, including news stories, updates to a web site or important bulletins. Regardless of the purpose for which the RSS file is being used, by watching this XML file, you can quickly and easily see whenever an update has occurred. Of course, viewing the RSS feed in Internet Explorer and manually reloading the page every few minutes is not the most efficient use of your time, so most people take advantage of some form of client software to read and monitor RSS feeds.

There are many different RSS clients available, but here are a selected few that we’ve tested and that you may find useful:

If you’re using Microsoft SharePoint, you can get RSS feeds delivered to your SharePoint site using Tim Heuer’sRSS FeedReader Web Part. The RSS FeedReader can be placed on a SharePoint Portal Server 2003 web part page or a Windows SharePoint Services team site/web part page.

How Do I Use RSS?

Whenever you see(or sometimes), it should link to an RSS feed that you can subscribe to via your RSS client.

The basic process is as follows: 1) Copy the URL for the RSS feed you want to your clipboard. 2) Paste it into the Address Bar of the RSS feed reader of your choice. 3) Optionally choose to refresh or continue/discontinue subscribing to the feed.

This, for example, is exactly the way it works in SharpReader; in FeedReader, clicking the New button opens a “New Feed Wizard,” where you paste the URL of your choice. Most other programs operate similarly.